Americans United - Sean Hannityhttps://www.au.org/tags/sean-hannity
enFall From Grace: What The Religious Right Should Learn From The McDonnell Scandalhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/fall-from-grace-what-the-religious-right-should-learn-from-the-mcdonnell
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Travel back with me to 2009: Robert McDonnell was campaigning for Virginia governor, and TV preacher Pat Robertson was ecstatic.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Leaders of Religious Right groups are fond of telling us that if we elect more fundamentalist Christians to office, we’ll have less corruption. Biblical literalists must be more ethical, right?</p><p>That claim is looking a little thin in light of recent events in Virginia. Yesterday, Robert F. McDonnell, the state’s former governor, was <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/mcdonnell-jury-in-third-day-of-deliberations/2014/09/04/0e01ff88-3435-11e4-9e92-0899b306bbea_story.html?tid=pm_pop">found guilty</a> on 11 counts related to public corruption, conspiracy and bribery. His wife, Maureen, whom this "family values" politican tried willingly to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-robert-mcdonnell-throws-his-wife-under-the-bus-at-trial/2014/08/21/664c5ebe-2971-11e4-958c-268a320a60ce_story.html">throw under the bus</a>, was found guilty on nine charges.</p><p>The McDonnells were accused of essentially selling influence in exchange for gifts, lavish vacations and sweetheart loans of $120,000 from a wealthy businessman named Jonnie R. Williams Sr. McDonnell is the first Virginia governor to be charged with a crime and the first convicted of one.</p><p>It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Travel back with me to 2009. McDonnell was campaigning for the governor’s mansion, and TV preacher Pat Robertson was ecstatic.</p><p>You see, McDonnell had attended Robertson’s Regent University. In fact, a master’s thesis he wrote while there briefly <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/october-2009-church-state/people-events/regent-university-thesis-becomes-hot-issue-in">became a campaign issue</a>. Robertson was excited to think that one of his own would soon lead the Old Dominion.</p><p>McDonnell won the race easily and soon set out to establish <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/virginia-reels-religious-right-gov-dances-to-pat-robertson%E2%80%99s-tune">godly rule in Virginia</a>. Speaking at Regent, he vowed to bring “servant leadership” to the state.</p><p>“It reflects those words of Jesus, who said that the greatest among you is the servant of all, and the fact that he came not to be served, but to serve,” McDonnell said. “I think that is the model for servant leadership.”</p><p>In reality, this “servant leadership” tended to look like the same old Religious Right agenda. When state officials decided that police chaplains should use non-sectarian prayers at public events, <a href="http://hamptonroads.com/2010/04/mcdonnell-rescinds-state-police-prayer-policy-referring-jesus">McDonnell rescinded</a> the order. McDonnell’s obsession with blocking access to legal abortion earned him the nickname <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/virginia-gov-bob-mcdonnell-signs-virginia-ultrasound-bill/">“Gov. Ultrasound.”</a> He drew up <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/adopting-bias-new-va-rules-seek-to-safeguard-%E2%80%98faith-based%E2%80%99-bigotry">new rules</a> allowing tax-funded “faith-based” adoption agencies to deny services to anyone who failed to meet a strict theological litmus test. He signed a law mandating that public colleges in Virginia give funding to student groups even if they discriminate on religious grounds. McDonnell appointed a private school voucher advocate as education secretary and shifted funding for sex education from comprehensive programs to “abstinence-only” approaches that critics say are often anchored in religion.</p><p>McDonnell also pushed for a state constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage (which was later approved by the voters) and even appeared on Robertson’s “700 Club” to lobby for it. <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/pat-loves-bobby-robertson-mcdonnell-push-marriage-amendment">McDonnell told</a> a beaming Robertson, “From the Garden of Eden to 2006, we’ve believed that marriage is between a man and a woman. But because of some social trends out there and some court decisions, Pat, as you know, marriage is under attack.”</p><p>(Robertson, of course, is sticking by McDonnell and, as he is wont to do, has fashioned <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/no-one-spins-conspiracy-theory-tv-preacher-pat-robertson">a conspiracy theory</a> to explain it all: You see, President Barack Obama is to blame!)</p><p><a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/09/mcdonnell_17.html">McDonnell spoke</a> at the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit in 2010 and 2012. Telegenic and polished, he was seen as a Religious Right rising star. There was talk about putting him on a future Republican ticket as vice president.</p><p>All of that came crashing down when McDonnell was indicted in January.</p><p>Look, politicians and public figures can let their supporters down. It happens. But it seems to happen to the Religious Right pretty often. And usually, despite their high-handed moralizing, they don’t seem to care.</p><p>Recall how they rallied behind serial adulterer Newt Gingrich. Consider how they never said a peep when U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) admitted to consorting with prostitutes. Watch them prop up Dinesh D'Souza as he begs a federal court not to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/03/us-usa-politics-dsouza-idUSKBN0GY2EW20140903">send him to prison</a> for violating campaign-finance laws.</p><p>See them throw money at an obvious political hack like Ralph Reed whose main philosophy seems to be “the ends justify the means.” Watch them support right-wing organizations that advocate <a href="http://www.speakupmovement.org/church/LearnMore/details/4702">openly violating federal law</a> to get their people elected to office.</p><p>Listen to their leaders denounce LGBT Americans in vile language. Observe as they swoon over divisive extremists like Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Bryan Fischer, Tony Perkins, Ben Carson, Sean Hannity, ad nauseam whose primary goal is to line their pockets by setting one group of Americans against another. Go to one of their meetings and be appalled as they feed on a steady diet of hate, fear and rage.</p><p>And remember, these are the people who feel ordained by God to judge the rest of us.</p><p>Based on the politicians and leaders they’ve been backing lately, I’d say it’s time for them to take a break and do some soul searching.</p><p>I’d recommend they start by consulting their own holy book – you know, the one they’re always happy to bash us with. Specifically, they should examine the 7th chapter of the Book of Matthew and the words of Jesus: “Why do you look at the speck of dust that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?...You hypocrite! First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/robert-mcdonnell">Robert McDonnell</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/maureen-mcdonnell">Maureen McDonnell</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/pat-robertson">Pat Robertson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/virginia">virginia</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ralph-reed">ralph reed</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/family-research-council">Family Research Council</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ben-carson">Ben Carson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sean-hannity">Sean Hannity</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sarah-palin">sarah palin</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bryan-fischer">Bryan Fischer</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/glenn-beck">Glenn Beck</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tony-perkins">Tony Perkins</a></span></div></div>Fri, 05 Sep 2014 14:47:15 +0000Rob Boston10469 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/fall-from-grace-what-the-religious-right-should-learn-from-the-mcdonnell#commentsLost Weekend: Scaling The ‘Values Voter Summit’ With The Rancorous Religious Right https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/lost-weekend-scaling-the-%E2%80%98values-voter-summit%E2%80%99-with-the-rancorous-religious
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The Religious Right is going all out to elect its allies this fall, using ethically dubious methods like stacked voter guides and &#039;prayer campaigns&#039; that are, in fact, voter mobilization projects.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>This weekend promises to be interesting: Today and tomorrow, I’ll be surrounded by hundreds of far-right fundamentalists who hate the separation of church and state, despise the work of Americans United and believe people like me (and, most likely, you) are a threat to the nation.</p>
<p>Yep, it’s the annual “Values Voter Summit” sponsored by the Family Research Council (FRC) and allied organizations – two big days of food, folks and fundamentalism!</p>
<p>I’ve been going to this event (and ones like it) for more than 20 years now. To be fair to the FRC &amp; Co., their staffers are polite, and no one has ever tried to toss me out. But the rhetoric from the speakers does tend toward the extreme.</p>
<p>I always see and hear interesting things. I remember the <a href="http://www.au.org/media/church-and-state/archives/2008/10/inside-the-value.html">2008 Summit</a>, where a vendor in the exhibit hall was selling boxes of “Obama waffle mix” decorated with racist caricatures of the president and his wife. He was kicked out – but only after a reporter wrote a story about the waffles that embarrassed the FRC.</p>
<p>I recall <a href="http://blog.au.org/2009/09/21/what-i-saw-and-heard-at-the-revolution-lessons-from-the-values-voter-summit/">last year </a>when several young men from an ultra-conservative Roman Catholic group called the American Society for Tradition, Family and Property protested against same-sex marriage and gay rights – while wearing sashes, brooches and capes. (What – no tiaras?)</p>
<p>I’ve heard Newt Gingrich, the Religious Right’s favorite serial adulterer, rant about how we need to save marriage from those dastardly gays. (Who’s going to save it from Newt?) I’ve heard Fox News blowhard Sean Hannity make fun of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy – as Kennedy battled the brain tumor that later took his life.</p>
<p>I’ve listened to former Education Secretary William Bennett defend torture in the name of Jesus. I’ve heard non-historians spout “Christian nation” claptrap and circulate phony quotes by James Madison. I’ve listened as a minister prayed that God would incinerate his enemies.</p>
<p>Mostly I’ve sat through a lot of rage. These people have serious anger-management issues. From the speakers’ podium, one hears a constant blast of hate directed at the enemy <em>du jour</em>: gays, feminists, non-religious people, university professors, “liberal elites,” evolution, Democrats, the media, Muslims, Keith Olbermann, Hollywood, progressive Christians, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, public schools, global warming, France, etc.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know the Religious Right claims to love the sinner and hate the sin, but after listening to two days of this, I usually conclude that the movement’s followers don’t love anyone who fails to agree with them.</p>
<p>But behind all of the hypocrisy and rancor, there is something very serious going on at the Values Voter Summit. The Religious Right is going all out to elect its allies this fall, using ethically dubious methods like stacked voter guides and “prayer campaigns” that are, in fact, voter mobilization projects.</p>
<p>Events like the Values Voter Summit are designed to whip up the shock troops and politicize churches so legions of Religious Right followers will troop to the polls and “take back” America. They want to remake it – according to their fundamentalist theology, of course.</p>
<p>To be clear, they have the right to take part in the political process – and we have a right to oppose their dangerous vision for America. To oppose them more effectively, we must first know what they’re up to. That’s what this weekend is about for me.</p>
<p>Look for a full report on the Values Voters Summit in the October <em>Church</em><em> &amp; State</em>.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/churches-and-politics">Churches and Politics</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/fighting-religious-right">Fighting the Religious Right</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/american-society-tradition">American Society for Tradition</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/family-and-property">Family and Property</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/FRC">Family Research Council</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/newt-gingrich">Newt Gingrich</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sean-hannity">Sean Hannity</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/values-voter-summit">Values Voter Summit</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/william-bennett">William Bennett</a></span></div></div>Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:31:18 +0000Rob Boston2114 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/lost-weekend-scaling-the-%E2%80%98values-voter-summit%E2%80%99-with-the-rancorous-religious#commentsFocus' Hocus Pocus: Religious Right Group Not So Kinder And Gentler After Allhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/focus-hocus-pocus-religious-right-group-not-so-kinder-and-gentler-after-all
<a href="/about/people/bathija">Sandhya Bathija</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>A few months ago, it seemed Focus on the Family may have been coming around to – dare I say it? – a refreshingly moderate outlook.</p>
<p>Jim Daly recently took over president and chief executive responsibilities from James Dobson, the founder of the Religious Right outfit.</p>
<p>Back in June, while visiting Washington to participate in President Barack Obama's White House initiative on fatherhood, Daly praised Obama for his family values.</p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/26/AR2009062603908.html">interviewer</a> asked Daly, "When Dr. Dobson stepped down as chairman in February, you said at the press conference, 'What we want to see is more families like Barack Obama's.' What did you mean by that?"</p>
<p>Daly responded, "I meant simply a man and woman committed to their marriage and raising their kids. That's kind of core to Focus on the Family's message. That's the irony of it. He exemplifies in his family what we're trying to do every day with all the help that we're trying to provide."</p>
<p>He also said Obama is "an incredibly engaging person, and he's hip."</p>
<p>Daly explained in the interview that as the new public face of the organization, he planned to really get into discussions about the issues, not just throw out inflammatory rhetoric.</p>
<p>"My style is to engage and try to influence," he said, "not simply to make remarks that maybe are not as informed. I want to find out more about the people that we're talking about. We talked about that today: Everybody who's polarized on the issues can tend to demonize people. We need to be careful with that. We do want a civil discourse. We do live in an amazing country where we hand power off in the way that we do."</p>
<p>You know, I could agree with that. We should try to base our opinions of others on actual facts and issues, not just call them names. Unfortunately, Daly can't seem to stick to his own plans.</p>
<p>Last night, Daly appeared on the Fox News Channel's <a href="http://www.hannity.com/">"Hannity"</a> show, hosted by Sean Hannity, who's not exactly known for encouraging reasoned dialogue. There was no discussion of issues or trying to "find out more about the people we're talking about." Instead, there was a lot of the "demonizing" that Daly had earlier told us to "be careful" about.</p>
<p>When Hannity, called Obama "a radical" who has "never pulled back from his ideology" and an "extremist," Daly said he had to agree.</p>
<p>But the name-calling was not based on Obama's decisions on particular issues; rather, it was a rehash of shopworn right-wing attacks tying Obama to Bill Ayers and other potentially controversial figures.</p>
<p>This doesn't sound like an "informed" opinion to me. Sure, we at AU sometimes criticize the president, but it's based on his actions (or lack of actions) on particular issues. At Focus on the Family, there just seems to be a void of facts.</p>
<p>One could argue that facts are an impediment to Focus on the Family. Yesterday, the organization <a href="http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000010882.cfm">sent a letter</a> to Congress opposing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The group argued that the legislation would harm religious freedom in the workplace.</p>
<p>"Gay rights activists have wanted this bill for a long time," said Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action, "to keep religious employers from being able to hire and fire based on their moral conviction."</p>
<p>Here is the truth about the bill: While it does protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation, it also includes broad protections for religious freedom, something Focus on the Family fails to acknowledge.</p>
<p>Focus might want to reconsider its strategy, however. There are signs that it's wearing thin even with the target audience. The <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_13257753"><em>Denver Post</em></a> reported today that the ministry is terminating 75 staff members to offset a $6 million revenue shortfall.</p>
<p>Maybe it is time to start basing those opinions on some substantial facts.</p>
<p>P.S. "The Wall of Separation" will be on hiatus on Labor Day. Enjoy the long weekend!</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/fighting-religious-right">Fighting the Religious Right</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/employment-non-discrimination-act">Employment Non-Discrimination Act</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/focus-family">Focus On The Family</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/james-dobson">James Dobson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/jim-daly">Jim Daly</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/president-obama">President Obama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religious-right-0">Religious Right</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sean-hannity">Sean Hannity</a></span></div></div>Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:50:30 +0000Sandhya Bathija2383 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/focus-hocus-pocus-religious-right-group-not-so-kinder-and-gentler-after-all#commentsBack From The Grave: Reports Of The Religious Right's Death Are Premature (Again)https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/back-from-the-grave-reports-of-the-religious-rights-death-are-premature
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">I wouldn&#039;t count the Religious Right out just yet. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Have you heard the news? The "culture wars" are over! Well, not really. They were over for about five minutes. Now they're back on again.</p>
<p>Here's what happened: Word started getting around that James Dobson of Focus on the Family had given a farewell speech to his staff during which he conceded that the Religious Right had failed to achieve many of its policy goals. Some in the media interpreted this as an admission of defeat and a sign that the Religious Right is giving up.</p>
<p>There are a couple of problems with this analysis. First of all, while Dobson did give a speech to his staff lamenting the state of things, he hardly threw in the towel. Dobson did admit that the situation is not really to his liking right now. That's not surprising since a Democrat is in the White House, abortion is still legal, gay people continue to exist, the public schools don't espouse fundamentalism, etc.</p>
<p>But Dobson's answer to that was not to give up. Far from it.</p>
<p>Instead, Dobson vowed to fight even harder. Referring to abortion and family issues, he said, "Humanly speaking, we can say that we have lost all those battles, but God is in control and we are not going to give up now, right?" He later added, "I have been assured by the board and by many of you that we're not going to cow, we're not going to be discouraged."</p>
<p>Just so there would be no confusion on this point, Dobson appeared on the Fox News Channel last night with Sean Hannity. In this friendly forum, Dobson <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,516076,00.html">made it clear</a> that he's not giving up.</p>
<p>"We're not going anywhere," Dobson vowed to Hannity. He later added, "[T]he war is not over, pendulums swing, and we'll come back, we're going to hang in there, and, you know, it's not going to be a surrender."</p>
<p>(And by the way, don't buy the claims that Dobson has "retired." It's bogus, as Dobson himself freely admitted to Hannity. Dobson still does a daily radio show, still sends out monthly letters to followers and still plans to hand out political endorsements. Some retirement.)</p>
<p>None of this stopped the <em>Telegraph</em>, a London newspaper, from proclaiming the death of the Religious Right yet again. The <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5136050/US-religious-Right-concedes-defeat.html">article</a> quotes from Dobson's address to his staff – conveniently leaving out his vow to continue fighting.</p>
<p>I mean no disrespect to our friends across the pond, but the U.K. press really doesn't get the Religious Right. Maybe it's because a movement like that has not existed in Great Britain since the days of Oliver Cromwell. For whatever reason, British reporters seem unduly eager to announce that the Religious Right is dead in America.</p>
<p>The well-respected <em>Economist</em> magazine pronounced the Religious Right kaput just before the 2000 election – literally days before that movement's favored candidate performed well enough in Florida to eventually be put into office by the Supreme Court, unleashing an eight-year Religious Right reign of terror on the nation.</p>
<p>Tom Minnery, one of Dobson's top lieutenants at FOF, pointed out recently that the Religious Right has been called dead many times in the past two decades.</p>
<p>"In the 20 years I've been in the movement, we have died four times," Minnery wrote in a <a href="http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&amp;pageId=94303">recent column</a>. "Our first death was in 1988, following the failure of Pat Robertson to win his campaign for president. The second death was in the late '90s, following the demise in influence of the Christian Coalition. Another obituary was written in 2006 when the Republicans lost control of Congress."</p>
<p>I rarely agree with Minnery, but this time I'd say that sounds just about right.</p>
<p>Here's the bottom line: The Religious Right is so closely identified with the Republican Party that its fortunes are now tied to that political unit. You might have noticed that the Republicans aren't doing so well right now. That means the Religious Right isn't doing so well either.</p>
<p>But remember, it's a two-party system. The GOP may be down right now, but that doesn't mean it's finished. Exit polls in 2008 showed that voters were worried about the state of the economy. If things don't turn around by 2010, voters might be willing to give the Republicans another shot. If that happens, the Religious Right would get to come along for the ride.</p>
<p>One more thought on this: Some commentators have been examining data from a recent survey about religion in America that showed a 10-point drop in the number of Christians and a spike in the number of people saying they are not affiliated with religion. There is a lot of interesting data in this <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-03-09-american-religion-ARIS_N.htm">study </a>to be sure, but to draw the conclusion that conservative Christianity is losing power in this country is a wild extrapolation.</p>
<p>Just six months ago, mobilization and money from the Religious Right ended same-sex marriage in California, widely regarded as our most liberal state. Groups are mobilizing and hope to do the same in Iowa. And, despite President Barack Obama's blow-out in the Electoral College, the popular vote in November was much closer. Forty-seven percent of the voting population was ready to put Sarah Palin, a far-right evangelical Christian and darling of the Religious Right, a heartbeat away from the presidency. This is not a movement on its last legs.</p>
<p>The Obama administration is definitely going to do things the Religious Right does not like, but being on the outside has certain advantages. People like Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Department of Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius become targets of Religious Right wrath and spur fund-raising and mobilization.</p>
<p>I'd like nothing more than to see the Religious Right lose power and influence and fade away as a political force in American life, but I remain skeptical that is happening. I wouldn't count the Religious Right out just yet.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/fighting-religious-right">Fighting the Religious Right</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/james-dobson">James Dobson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religious-right-0">Religious Right</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sean-hannity">Sean Hannity</a></span></div></div>Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:01:22 +0000Rob Boston1915 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/back-from-the-grave-reports-of-the-religious-rights-death-are-premature#commentsJefferson & Obama v. Hannity & Rove: You Know Who's Gonna Win This Bouthttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/jefferson-obama-v-hannity-rove-you-know-whos-gonna-win-this-bout
<a href="/about/people/joseph-l-conn">Joseph L. Conn</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">So who you gonna believe – Hannity, Gingrich and Rove – or Jefferson and Obama?
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>The partisan pugilists over at Fox News Channel have been howling about President Barack Obama's insistence that America is a pluralistic nation that respects all faiths.</p>
<p>Obama, you may recall, said during his recent visit to Turkey that the United States is "<a href="http://blog.au.org/2009/04/07/celebrating-the-secular-obama-says-us-is-not-a-christian-nation-2/">a secular country </a>that is respectful of religious freedom, respectful of rule of law, respectful of freedom...."</p>
<p>Insisted the president, "I've said before that one of the great strengths of the United States is – although as I mentioned we have a very large Christian population – we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."</p>
<p>That perfectly non-controversial, historically and constitutionally accurate assertion sent right-wing politicians and their Fox sycophants into paroxysms of feigned outrage.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200904090033">Media Matters</a>, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich asserted that Obama "was fundamentally misleading about the nature of America"; Fox ranter Sean Hannity stated that he was "offended" and that Obama is "out of touch with the principles that have made this country great"; George W. Bush's Machiavellian political strategist Karl Rove suggested that Obama denied the reality that "we have historically had, you know, a robust presence of faith in our public square"; and Fox host Megan Kelly indicated that Obama was "obviously just pandering" when he suggested "[w]e're not a Christian country."</p>
<p>These biased bloviators wrenched Obama's quotes from context to make it appear that the president was somehow attacking Christianity and its role in American society, when he manifestly was not. It was a disgraceful and disgusting smear. Hannity, Rove &amp; Company know that <a href="http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1176/obama-muslim-opinion-not-changed">a significant percentage</a> of Americans still think Obama is a Muslim, and an even larger number don't know that Obama is a practicing Christian. This ignorance is ripe for partisan exploitation.</p>
<p>Today is Thomas Jefferson's birthday. Jefferson, born April 13, 1743, played a leading role in bringing religious freedom to his home state of Virginia and later to the United States. What would Jefferson think of Obama's assertions?</p>
<p>It's abundantly clear that our third president <a href="http://www.au.org/site/DocServer/jefferson_quotes.pdf?docID=761">would agree </a>with our 44th.</p>
<p>After his Statute for Religious Freedom passed the Virginia legislature in 1786, Jefferson noted in his autobiography, "[The Act is] meant to comprehend within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mohometan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination."</p>
<p>In his <em>Notes on the State of Virginia</em>, Jefferson argued, "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."</p>
<p>And, of course, most famously of all, Jefferson helped construct a metaphorical barrier between religion and government that has served Americans well down through the decades.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.au.org/site/DocServer/Thomas_Jeffersons_Letter_To_The_Danburry_Baptists.pdf?docID=142">Writing to the Danbury (Conn.) Baptist Association,</a> Jan. 1, 1802, President Jefferson observed, "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man &amp; his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, &amp; not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church &amp; State."</p>
<p>If the "whole American people" have built a "wall of separation between church and state," how can the government favor one faith over others? Obviously it can't.</p>
<p>There are lots <a href="http://www.au.org/site/DocServer/jefferson_quotes.pdf?docID=761">more Jefferson quotes</a> just like these. I wish I could list them all.</p>
<p>So who you gonna believe – Hannity, Gingrich and Rove – or Jefferson and Obama?</p>
<p>I know who I'm siding with. How about you?</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/barack-obama">Barack Obama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation">christian nation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/church-state-milestones">Church-State Milestones</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/danbury-baptists">Danbury Baptists</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/fox-news-channel">Fox News Channel</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/karl-rove">Karl Rove</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/megan-kelly">Megan Kelly</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/newt-gingrich">Newt Gingrich</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sean-hannity">Sean Hannity</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/thomas-jefferson">thomas jefferson</a></span></div></div>Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:48:31 +0000Joseph L. Conn1563 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/jefferson-obama-v-hannity-rove-you-know-whos-gonna-win-this-bout#comments